Japanese Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Japanese language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
I'm reading this interview with a voice actress, and this phrase came up pretty much out of context from the interviewer (in the sense that they weren't talking about baseball or a literal ball).
-- さすがにもっといますよ！（笑）
[interviewee] : でも、「私はファンめっちゃいる」って思っちゃって、天狗にはなりたくないし……。 常に初心の心を忘れずに、感謝を忘れずに生きていこうと思っています。
-- 球{たま｝が速｛はや｝いです！
Is this perhaps an alternative to saying ”ストレート” /the interviewee gave a "straight" answer?
Yes, this is a baseball metaphor. 剛速球, 直球, ストレート or 速い球 refers to a straight or unreserved statement from someone. The opposing idea is 変化球, which refers to a tricky statement. I think 変化球 is far more common as metaphorical expressions. Note that in baseball contexts, 球 is always read たま. 球 is read きゅう in mathematical contexts ("sphere"). 玉 (たま) refers to a precious "orb" or "gem".
What she has said in the interview is not particularly a 速い球 to me because that is almost a cliché used by many people near the end of interview sessions. Maybe the interviewer was surprised at the "straight" comment while he had expected something more unique and "fresh" as an アイドル声優. (She is a new seiyu, and normally she doesn't have to worry about forgetting her 初心 and 感謝 yet.)
